Southern Scraps

This week's Fabulous Friday find is a neat idea that I stumbled upon recently. It is a great idea for outdoor summer entertaining- use pot saucers to make coasters. The North End Loft shows you how. Here's another version at Joy is At Home : Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend.

Hi and welcome to my new followers. Sorry I'm late with this week's Tried It out Thursday. Sometimes life just gets in the way.  I was browsing in Tuesday Morning a few weeks ago and found the perfect placemats for making pillows. Just the color I want to use on my back porch and one has butterflies too. Even better is the fact that one has a pattern on both sides and one has a solid back so I have reversible pillows for more options. These are so easy to make. Use placemats that have two layers of materials. Pick one end, or part of it, open with a seam ripper and fill with fiberfill or quilt batting. Sew the end closed again. I love easy projects like this that allow me instant gratification and satisfaction over completing something- and saving money too. The mats were only a couple of dollars each. Sharing here: Think Pink Sundays ** Under the Table and Dreaming * Sundae Scoop * Creative Bloggers Party and Hop * Craftomaniac Monday * Make the S

When searching for some new ideas for my beach mantel and nautical decor, I came across some great rope DIYs. These are now on my "Must Do" list. wreath by Sand and Sisal Mirror at Completely Coastal Coasters at DIY Life sisal bowl by Censational Girl Napkin rings at Marthat Stewart Rope lends itself well to jewelry projects too. In case you missed it, I made a rope bracelet and rope necklace  last year.  

You may have noticed the centerpiece in my patriotic star applique placemat post. It's an easy one to do. All you need is some mason jars or jars of any kind. These are probably empty pickle or spaghetti jars. In addition to the jars you need: sand ( I used the decorative kind from Michael's) acrylic jewel accent stones ( Michael's) (These have been used in Christmas and Valentine's decor so they were worth the investment.) candles- I'm using led tealights mini flags mini star wired garland dowels Fill jars partly with sand and top with jewel stones. Wrap star garland around your dowel. Stick dowel and flag in jar. The third jar was made with tissue paper and Mod Podge. Apply strips of paper to the inside of jar. Add a flag and a candle. This looks cool lit up. I told you it was easy! What easy and quick centerpiece ideas do you have? I'd love to hear about them in the comments. Sharing here: Think Pink S

Today Fabulous Friday find jumped out at me not only for it's cuteness, but it's functionality as well. Take a look- Nest of Posies set a cute holiday table and used mason jars for drinks with cupcake liners for jar toppers. The really cool thing- this will keep the BUGS OUT of the drinks. I love it- I hate bugs and they turn me off from outdoor functions, but this is genius! The Diary of Dave's Wife used fabric circles on mason jars. This would serve the same purpose- cuteness and functionality. Thanks for stopping by. So grateful for all my new followers and I look forward to getting to know you better and sharing ideas with you. Have a great weekend!

After all the hard work on my front porch makeover , I decided I needed a cool treat. I have lots of hot chocolate left over from the winter, so I searched out a way to use up those packets. I found this recipe for frozen hot chocolate and gave it a try. I totally recommend it. 3 Tablespoons Granulated Sugar 1 package Hot Cocoa Mix (about 3 Tablespoons) 2 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter ⅓ cups Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips ⅓ cups White Chocolate Chips 12 ounces, fluid Can Evaporated Milk, Divided 4-½ cups Ice Whipped Cream, To Taste Mini Marshmallows, To Taste Combine sugar, cocoa mix, and butter in the top of a double boiler that is set over gently boiling water. Stir often until melted and a smooth paste forms. Add semi-sweet & white chocolate chips; stir. When chips begin to melt, slowly stir in 1/2 cup of evaporated milk. Stir until smooth. Cool to room temperature. Combine the chocolate base mixture, the remaining evaporated milk and ice in a blender (you

This is a fairly easy project to dress up plain placemats for the Fourth of July (or Memorial Day) holiday. You'll need a placemat- fabric or the woven plastic kind from the Dollar Tree. I chose the plastic ones from the Dollar Tree because I would be using them outside. Find a star template and some red, white and blue fabric scraps. I had a plastic scrapbooking template but you could draw your own or download one from the net. Using your template, trace stars on fabric. Cut out. Stitch your stars to your mats with embroidery thread. Done. Easy. Here's a couple of close ups of my mats. I'll be sharing here: Think Pink Sundays ** Under the Table and Dreaming * Sundae Scoop * Creative Bloggers Party and Hop * Craftomaniac Monday * Make the Scene Monday * Making the World Cuter * Just Something I Whipped Up at TGC * Masterpiece Monday * Motivate Me Monday * Inspire Me Monday * Market Yourself Mondays at Sumo’s Sweet Stuff * Pink Hippo Party * More The Merri

It's almost officially summer so that means its time to pull out the summer decor, particularly my coastal decor. I started with my mantel. I made a large portion of my coastal decor last year . I've switched up the mantel just a little bit this year.

I've been seeing this trend around the net for a couple of years and it's growing on me. I think when I need to replace my back door mat or kitchen rug, I'll give this a try- a painted rug. You can do so many fun designs and colors much cheaper than you can buy one. via design sponge House of Smiths Bee and laurel by Less than perfect life of bliss Tatertots and jello by Pudel-design And here's a link to 17 painted rug ideas . Have a great week!

This week's Fabulous Friday find is "The Perfect Cupcake Recipe" from a mix. I found this over at Tidy Mom.  Really, everything at Tidy Mom is fabulous so you should go check her out. I made cupcakes last weekend using this recipe and it is exactly what it says- you really get a thick creamy batter this way. My cupcakes got rave reviews from church, co-workers and the hubby.  And the tip about using the ice cream scoop to fill the cups works too! Have a great weekend and thanks for following me!

I've admired all the cute cupcake and pedestal stands in blogland for a long time. I finally made my own. I should not have put this off- it was so easy! For the white one, I started with a wooden plaque and wooden candlestick from Michael's. I adhered the two pieces together with Liquid Nails. I love this for wood projects. (I used it for my birdhouses too.) Flip your plaque over and glue the candlestick to the middle. Let it dry according to the directions. Once it was dry I painted this one with white acrylic paint and a foam brush. After the final coat of paint, I gave it a couple of coats of Plaid satin finish varnish . I forgot to take photos of the process with the blue one. I used an old wooden circle that used to be the top to a jar candle and a glass candle stick from the Dollar Tree. I have saved that jar top through two home moves, knowing it would be useful for something one day. It should have clicked with me long before now. I adhered the g